22 August Ride to Bandera

Pictures by Skip Surre & Jill Severe                          Write-up by Jill Severe

The summer of 2009 will be remembered as having a record-setting heat wave AND a great ride hosted by Chapter U Couple of the Year, Duke and Chela Thompson!  Chapter U rides the last few months have understandably been breakfast rides but the last two years we have had a great turnout to the annual ride out to Duke and Chela Thompson’s ranch just outside of Bandera.  This year, Duke and Chela added a new twist to our annual (or sometimes more than annual!) visit to “Tierra Fina…” a great ride in the surrounding area with added shopping!

Ride Captain Duke Thompson                                          Mike Whiteside & his cup of Java!

Duke and Chela have been planning and talking about this ride for several months.  Road Captain Duke was leading it while Chela was heading up hosting the first food stop at their ranch house.  The advertising they had done the last few months at the monthly chapter gathering must have paid off…along with word of month that this is a “not-to-be-missed” Chapter U ride.  Nine bikes and trikes met at the Exxon station at 46 and 281 to meet Duke who was the Ride Captain for the day.  After meeting and greeting, a safety briefing and breaking into two smaller groups, we headed off in high spirits.  The temperature was in the mid to low 70’s…what a welcome relief…and we were all bent on enjoying the cool temps while they lasted.  It takes about an hour of riding to get to Bandera.  Lucky for Brad and I that first time Chapter U Rider and Co-Rider, Claude and Susan Howard (friends of Archie and Sharon’s), noticed our left rear tire was low and passed the word at the stop light near 46 and I-10.  We pulled into the Lowe’s parking lot followed by Claude and Sharon.  Lucky for us as well that Olin Gover pulled in as well as he had an air pump to fill up the tire, and we had left ours on our yellow 1800 bike!  Fortunately there was no nail in the tire, it appears the cap wasn’t on completely, but it provided me a chance to get to know Claude and Sharon much better.  There is always a lining to every cloud when you are a GWRRA Chapter U participant!

Co-rider Amanda with Steve VanGuilder                                               Steve & Susan Ochs

Some of the bikes at the pickup point!

We headed off, enjoying the last miles to Duke and Chela’s, arriving in time to join enjoy the breakfast tacos, juice and coffee on their back porch!  Two things you can count on at Duke and Chela’s…the food and hospitality are always great!  After everyone had their fill of breakfast tacos and coffee, Duke gave another safety briefing as some bikes had met everyone up at Duke and Chela’s.   We headed off in high spirits though the sun was continuing to climb in the skies and the temp was in the 80’s. 

On the road pics by Skip

Bikes lined up at Duke & Chela's                                      Chela & her friend had everything ready!!!

Lot's of food and discussion!

What a great place for a breakfast! Thanks Duke & Chela!!!

Now if you know something about Texas history, you will know that the U.S. government had a “camel” experiment at Camp Verde before the Civil War.  Brad and I had actually learned this riding down to Port Aransas a few years back, when we passed a camel caravan!  Well outside of Bandera is a little park and a marker for the actual Camp which was abandoned, along with the experiment, due to the Civil War (the camels were let lose) and a great store! Yes, the Co-Riders were happy to find a wonderful 2 story shopper’s paradise…along with a 75% off sale in their jewelry section.  Some of us never got past the jewelry!  The Co-Riders shopped while the Riders swilled down soft drinks, nibbled on food samples, and were happy that there wasn’t too much room for goodies on the bikes and trikes!  Of course that did not stop some of us from starting our Christmas shopping early!  We left planning another ride to the Camp Verde General Store and Post Office (since 1857!), this time to eat lunch…and shop!

no one wanted to stop on the hill!                              Wow, that is a lot of Gold Wings!!

Just arrived at Camp Verde                                        .   Historical memorial

No similarity I can see! Luis Flores!                                  Jill & the girls hitting the 75% off sale!

Ida Flores by the jewelry!                                                       Who has the deck of cards!

New participants Claude & Susan!                                           On the road pick by Skip

On the road pic by Jill!                                                     Another by Skip

Another by Jill!                                                                  Ken Jordan met us at Apple Annie's

Duke had set a 30 minute time frame for this stop…not enough….and I don’t think we were out of there in 30 minutes but we did set off to our next stop…Love Apple Orchard Restaurant.  The road between Camp Verde and Love Apple Orchard is windy, has switchbacks, great views, and is really truly great riding in our area.  Duke had warned everyone of the steep inclines and tight turns, and Chapter U traveled the road in our hallmark safe fashion!

We hit Love Apple Orchard Restaurant in time for lunch, meeting Chela and her friend who was helping her out with breakfast.  Ken Jordan also surprised us by coming out too! Some had burgers…some just had dessert only like the homemade apple pie and soft serve apple ice cream!  Yummm!  Brad and I have lived in this area 11 years and never had this treat.  There was also some shopping at the restaurant!

12 bikes and trikes lined up 2 by 2 at Apple Annie's

Nice lunch/snack rook at Apple Annie's

Mike Whiteside with Claude & Sharon                                    New participants, Mike & Martha

We headed back towards Bandera.  I had put my camera in our trunk thinking there would be no more photo ops.  I can’t believe there was a longhorn being ridden down the main street of Bandera when we drove by!  I guess the cowboy was training the longhorn for the upcoming Labor Day parade which features longhorns being driven by cowboys to start the parade.  Well…I will have to capture that Bandera Kodak moment another time.  The moral of the story is never to put away your camera on a Chapter U ride!

In Bandera, half of us headed south towards San Antonio, and half of us headed on for a loop around Medina Lake and (probably) a final stop at the Bandera DQ.  In true Chapter U fashion, this Chapter U adventure was wonderful.  I didn’t hear one comment about the heat so people must have enjoyed themselves while riding, eating, shopping, and getting to know each other.  We were happen to have two couples on their first ride with Chapter U:  Mike and Martha from Pleasanton (J.D. and Millie’s friends), and Claude and Sharon (Archie and Sharon’s friends).  True to Chapter U, I think we are all the friends of Mike and Martha (M & M) and Claude and Sharon.  Hope to see you on the next ride!

Jill Severe

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